Sack chute and switch



1940' w. M. BRENCHLEYU SACK CHUTE AND SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledApril 16, 1938 INVENTOR Win Brcuclzley BY mmiwmm ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1940.I w. M. BRENCHLEY 2,190,094

SACK CHUTE AND SWITCH Filed April 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORWJnM Bren clzley Feb; 13, 1

SACK CHUTE AND SWITCH Filed April 16, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORW711 PI. B1 'GlLC/Z [0y BY Q 3- ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 13; 1940 ArsNrorr'ics i l l 4 i i s-Ao K orm'm AND swrroH i l l I M-h BWnchleyl Stockr Calif- I I. I r v flsopiieaimn its 16, 1938, swarm. 202,482

ea s. (o 193-31) v a i v I This invention relates toshipdoadingapparatus-andparticularly to a device to facilitate theloading of sacked produce such as "grain into I the'hold'of a vessel. 5One of the major objects of my invention'is to provide a flexible spoutadapted to depend into the hold from adjacent the'hatch, and which isespecially designed to handle sacked grain and the like I (asdistinguished from bulk u grain) without danger of the stacks burstingopen as they drop down the' spout and negotiate the one or morerelatively sharpbends usually given the spout'to break the speed ofdescent of the sacks. To speed up loading" operations; two of 5 thespouts are employed and another important object of the invention is toprovide a chute from which the spouts depend,-'an d to arrange an auto-'matically functioning nieans'cn the chute so that l witlfthe sacksdeposited in single file order on 3 the chuteat its end furthest fromthe'spouts, saidsacks willg in'thenormal'operation of the device, he"auto'r'natically diverted into thefitwo spouts in a1ternating order."the same time, thedevioe may be adjusted if desir'ed so that the 3sacks will all pass intd'only'oiieof the spouts'.

' A further object of thefinvention is to produce asimple'and'inexpensive'device an'dyet one which vrillbe exceedinglyeffective for thepurpose' for which it is designed. These objects!accomplish by means of such. structureandrelative arrangement of partsas will fully appear by a'perusal of the following specification andclaims. I

In the drawings similar characters of'referencc indicate correspondingparts in the several viewsz "Figure its a side elevationof the completea -w Q Q1. Q

Figure 2. is an enlarged" side clevation'pa'rtly in section. of thechute structure.

3 a top plan view of the same" Figure 4: is an enlargedfra'gmentarysection of a spout at its u pper end showing the mounting' andsupporting meansffor thefsp'out sections.

Figure his 'a fragmentary side view showing the releasable connectionmeans between a spout section and its supp'ortingxchain; I l

Figure 6 is a plan "view" of a spout section detached. I Referring nowmore particularly to the charasters of reference onthedraw'ings, thechute structure comprises a main chute portion 5 hav ing sides 2'somewhat deeper than the thickness of." a loaded sack. The chute slopesdown to one end and' is'supportsd from averti ally adjustabletionieivorlt' fi which rests on t'h hatch cover of the hold into whichthe sacks are'to be loaded.

The width of the portion l is somewhat greater than the width of a sack.At the lower end of themain or' initial portion 1; "the chute flares outto forrna wide portion 4 whose width 'is 8- more than double that ofportion l, which portion i communicates with a pair of laterally spacedchute branches 5 at the lower end of the chute and which terminate indownwardly facing discharge spouts 6'. These spouts are of m oval form,symmetrical to and slightly larger than the cross sectional area of aloaded sack,

the chute. One branch orleg is longer than the other. so that the spoutsare ofiset from each other both transversely and longitudinally of thechute, for the purpose which will be seen.

Disposed in the chute andextending'from adjacent the'inception of theflaring portions A to the inception of the branches 5 is a swinging i6gate unit. This comprises a forward member '1," substantially in theform of a heavyplate set on edge, and pivoted on a pin 8 Whose axis isat right angles to the bottom of the chute and which is supported bycross bars 9 rigid with the chute above and below the same. The rearmember Hl of the gate is also pivoted on the pin 3 for swinging movementindependently of the member l, the sides of'member Ill flaringrearwardly from the pin so that 30* with their major aidsextndingtransversely oi they are not normally in line with the sides ofmember 7. The member ii! is yieldably main tained insymmetrical-relation to member 1 by aleaf spring H' seton edgeand'secured at its rear end' on the member ill at its rear end. At itsforward end, spring H engages a' pin 12 upstanding from a short arm l3overhanging the adjacent end of member Hi and rigid with m'emher I;

At its forward end, member 7' is provided with/401 a bumper roller Madapted to bear against either side wall of. the chute.v Guardelements15 in the chute ahead of the roller prevent any possiblecatching of asack inthecorner formed between the "roller'and the adjacent sidewall-45" of the chute; A snap action device lfi'which includes a springll Whose tension may be ad justed as clearly indicated in Fig. 2,extends between the forwardend of the gate and .chute'structureroarwardly of the gate, said do 505;; vice being of course above thegate and pin 6.

With the gate in either positiom the member 1 is substantially parallelto the opposite side of a the flaring chute portion 4 and isofcoursespaced' therefrom a distance greater than: the width eta- 5 sack.The member H) on the corresponding side however projects into the chuteso that its rear end is considerably closer to said side of the chutethan the width of a sack. As a result, a sack sliding down the chute isdeflected by the member I and then engages said member IE. Since thespring I! is ordinarily weaker than spring H, the gate as a whole isswung by the sack until the latter can pass by the obstruction ofieredby member l0 and enter the adjacent branch 5 and spout 6.

When the gate is deflected sufiiciently to pass the sack however, it isthen beyond a dead center position relative-to the snap action deviceand the latter then functions to throw the gate so that it then closesthe branch 5 just used, and diverts the next sack into the other branch,with a subsequent reversal of the gate in the same manner to itsoriginal position.

The sacks willthus be delivered alternately the two branches providedthe sacks are fed into the chute with some spacing therebetween as iscustomary. If however a sack should happen to engage the forward end ofthe gate and prevent swinging thereof before the sack ahead has clearedthe gate member ID, the latter will then be deflected by the sackagainst the resistance of spring I l to allow the sack to pass, andthesubsequent sack will also enter the same chute branch. This howeveris immaterial in an apparatus of this character, in which perfectalternation is unnecessary.

If intentional feeding into only one chute branch is desired, the aboveresult may be obtained by tensioning spring ll until its resistance isgreater than that of spring I i. This result is had by reason of thefact that the leverage ex,- erted on member I by the snap action deviceI6 is then greater than the leverage exerted on short arm l3 by spring Hand thus the gate member ill may be deflected laterally by-a passingsack without moving the gate member 1 past dead center and all sackswill feed into the same branch.

In connection with the chute unit above described, I employ a novel formof flexible spout adapted to depend to any necessary depth into the holdof the vessel from the spouts 6.

These flexible spouts, of which there are of coursetwo, each comprises aplurality of relatively short spout sections it of tapering form, whosecross sectional shape is shown in Fig. 6, and which is the same as thatdescribed in connection with spouts B, which project loosely into thetopmost spout sections as shown in Figs.

Each spout, whose total length may exceed forty feet, is supportedindependently of the chute unit by chains l9 at the wide sides of thespout sections, which chains dependfrom and are supported by frames 20removably resting on the hatch cover.

The chains include snap hooks 2| at intervals, so that lengths of thespout may be easily removed as the hold fills'up, and a shorter spout iswanted. In order to facilitate repairing of the spout, each section I8is releasably connected to the chains bystuds 22 projecting outwardlyfrom the sections at the rim thereof and extending through adjacentlinks of the chains, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The chains are held,against undesired disengagement from the studs by suitable means such ascotter pins 23 through the studs. The spout sections have a loosetelescoping fit with each other as shown, so that the spout as a whole.may be easily flexed or bent in any desired direction, both to placethe discharge end of the spout at the necessary loading point in thehold and also to enable speed retarding bends to be formed in the spoutat intervals. the formation of such bends, which may need to be quiteabrupt or of small radius, a plurality of the sections l8, at intervalsin the length of the spout, are made relatively short as clearly shownin Fig. 1.

By reason of the double offsetting of the chute spouts 6 with which theflexible depending spouts register, said spouts may be deflected in thesame or in opposite directions, either transversely or longitudinally ofthe chute unit, without interfering with each other. i

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills theobiects of theinvention as To facilitate of individual articles, saidassemblyincluding a 3 chute to receive articles in single file order, apair of chute branches at one end of said chute, a gate disposedlengthwise in the chute adjacent the chute branches, a pin pivoting thegate intermediate its ends for swinging movement in a plane laterally ofthe chute, a snap action spring device applied to the gate to yieldablyhold the same in angular relation to the chute and in position to engageand divert an article moving along said chute into one of the branches,the opposite sides of the gate rearwardly of the pin flaring from eachother so as to project into the path of an article diverted into eitherbranch sufliciently to cause engagement and continued movement of thearticle with the corresponding flaring side to swing the gate past adead center position; the portion of the gate rearwardly of the pinbeing in the form of a member pivoted on said pin for swinging movementindependently of the remainder of the gate, and another spring ofgreater tension than the spring of the snap action device acting on saidmember to yieldably resist swinging movement thereof.

2. A device as inclaim 1 in which the spring of said snap'action deviceis capable of adjustment to increase the tension thereof to an extent inexcess of that of said other spring.

3. In a chute assembly for two-way distribution of individual articles,said assembly including a chute to receive articles in single fileorder, a pair of chute branches at one end of said chute, a gatedisposed in the chute adjacent the chute branches, means pivoting thegate for swinging movement laterally of the chute, and a snap actionspring device applied to the gate to yieldably hold the same in angularrelation to said chute and in position to engage and divert an articlemoving along said chute into one of the branches, a portion of theopposite sides of the gate flaring from each other so as to projectsufliciently into the path of an article diverted into either branchwhereby upon engagement of said article with the corresponding flaringside portion of the gate and continued movement of said article to swingthe gate past a dead center position; said flaring of said snap actiondevice is arranged for adjustportions of the sides of the gate beingseparate from the remainder of the gate, means mounting said sideportions of the gate for lateral swinging movement independently of saidremainder of the gate, and means yieldably resist-.

ing such independent swingingmovement of said side portions and with aforce greaterthan that exerted by the spring of the snap action device,

4. In a chute assembly for two-way distribution of individual articles,said assembly including a chute to receive articles in single fileorder, a pair of chute branches at one end of said chute, a gatedisposed in the chute adjacent the chute branches, means pivoting thegate for swinging movement laterally of the chute, and a snap ac- 1 tionspring device applied to the gate to yieldably hold the same in angularrelation to said chute and in position to engage and divert anarticlemoving along said chute into one of the gate for lateral swingingmovement independently of said remainder of the gate, and another springmounted in connection withsaid side portions and yieldably resistingsuch independent movement, thereof and with a force greater than thatexerted by the spring of the snap action device.

s. A device as in claim 4 in which the spring ment to increase thetension thereof to an extent that the force exerted thereby is greaterthan the force exerted by said other spring mounted,

in connection with said side portions.

6. ,A chute assembly for two-way distribution of individual articles,said assembly including a chute to receive articles in single fileorder, a pair of chute branches at one end of said chute, a gatedisposed in the chute adjacent the chute branches,

said gate comprising separate front and rearsections pivoted together atadjacent ends for rela- H tive swinging movement laterally of the chute,a

snap action spring device applied to the front sectlcn to yieldably holdthe same in angular relation to said chute and in position to engage anddivert an article moving along said chute into one of the branches, therear section of said gate having rearwardly flaring sides, and meansconnected between the front and rear sections and maintaining the rearsection inlaterally yieldable but nor-- mally symmetrical relation tothe front section, said means upon lateral movement of the rear sectionexerting an opposite and greater rotating force on the front sectionthan that of the spring of the snap action device. I

7. A device as in claim 6 in which said means comprises a longitudinallyextending leaf spring disposed on edge and secured at its rear end onthe rear section, the forward end of said spring being formed as a fork,an arm on the front section extending rearwardly of the gate pivot andabove said rear section, and a pin upstanding from the rear end ofsaidarm, the fork straddling said pin. e r

n WILLImi M. BRENCHLEY.

